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Chemical decomposition, or chemical breakdown, is the process or effect of simplifying a single chemical entity (normal molecule, reaction intermediate, etc.) into two or more fragments. [1] Chemical decomposition is usually regarded and defined as the exact opposite of chemical synthesis. In short, the chemical reaction in which two or more ...
Decomposition in animals is a process that begins immediately after death and involves the destruction of soft tissue, leaving behind skeletonized remains. The chemical process of decomposition is complex and involves the breakdown of soft tissue, as the body passes through the sequential stages of decomposition . [ 2 ]
The decomposition of food, either plant or animal, called spoilage in this context, is an important field of study within food science. Food decomposition can be slowed down by conservation. The spoilage of meat occurs, if the meat is untreated, in a matter of hours or days and results in the meat becoming unappetizing, poisonous or infectious.
An example of a simple chain reaction is the thermal decomposition of acetaldehyde (CH 3 CHO) to methane (CH 4) and carbon monoxide (CO). The experimental reaction order is 3/2, [4] which can be explained by a Rice-Herzfeld mechanism. [5] This reaction mechanism for acetaldehyde has 4 steps with rate equations for each step :
The chemical reaction is as follows: CaCO 3 → CaO + CO 2 The reaction is used to make quick lime, which is an industrially important product. Another example of thermal decomposition is 2Pb(NO 3) 2 → 2PbO + O 2 + 4NO 2. Some oxides, especially of weakly electropositive metals decompose when heated to high enough temperature.
In chemistry, a reaction intermediate, or intermediate, is a molecular entity arising within the sequence of a stepwise chemical reaction. It is formed as the reaction product of an elementary step, from the reactants and/or preceding intermediates, but is consumed in a later step. It does not appear in the chemical equation for the overall ...
Decomposition is often erroneously conflated with this process of external digestion, probably because of the strong association between fungi, which are external digesters, and decomposition. The term "decomposer" refers to a role in an ecosystem, not to a particular class or type of organism, or even to a specific capacity of those organisms. [5]
Chemical reactions are usually characterized by a chemical change, and they yield one or more products, which usually have properties different from the reactants. Reactions often consist of a sequence of individual sub-steps, the so-called elementary reactions, and the information on the precise course of action is part of the reaction mechanism.